Long range beacon for power difference between 5 and 6 ghz

ABSTRACT

This disclosure describes systems, methods, and devices related to long range beacon. A device may determine one or more co-located frequency bands with a 6 GHz access point (AP). The device may generate a reduced neighbor report (RNR), wherein the RNR comprises information associated with the 6 GHz AP. The device may determine a minimum bandwidth to transmit a beacon frame using a communication mode. The device may cause to send the beacon frame to a first station device.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This disclosure generally relates to systems and methods for wirelesscommunications and, more particularly, to long range beacon for powerdifference between 5 and 6 gigahertz (GHz).

BACKGROUND

Wireless devices are becoming widely prevalent and are increasinglyrequesting access to wireless channels. The Institute of Electrical andElectronics Engineers (IEEE) is developing one or more standards thatutilize Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) in channelallocation.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a network diagram illustrating an example network environmentfor long range beacon, in accordance with one or more exampleembodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 depicts an illustrative schematic diagram for a long range beaconsystem, in accordance with one or more example embodiments of thepresent disclosure.

FIGS. 3A-3C depict illustrative schematic diagrams for a long rangebeacon system, in accordance with one or more example embodiments of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 4 illustrates a flow diagram of a process for an illustrative longrange beacon system, in accordance with one or more example embodimentsof the present disclosure.

FIG. 5 illustrates a functional diagram of an exemplary communicationstation that may be suitable for use as a user device, in accordancewith one or more example embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 6 illustrates a block diagram of an example machine upon which anyof one or more techniques (e.g., methods) may be performed, inaccordance with one or more example embodiments of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of a radio architecture in accordance withsome examples.

FIG. 8 illustrates an example front-end module circuitry for use in theradio architecture of FIG. 7, in accordance with one or more exampleembodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 9 illustrates an example radio IC circuitry for use in the radioarchitecture of FIG. 7, in accordance with one or more exampleembodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 10 illustrates an example baseband processing circuitry for use inthe radio architecture of FIG. 7, in accordance with one or more exampleembodiments of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following description and the drawings sufficiently illustratespecific embodiments to enable those skilled in the art to practicethem. Other embodiments may incorporate structural, logical, electrical,process, algorithm, and other changes. Portions and features of someembodiments may be included in, or substituted for, those of otherembodiments. Embodiments set forth in the claims encompass all availableequivalents of those claims.

The power spectral density (PSD) limit in 6 GHz regulation is −1 dBm/MHzequivalent isotropically radiated power (EIRP) for the non-AP STA, and 5dBm/MHz for the AP. It means the total transmit (TX) power for theclient can be limited in 6 GHz depending on the RU size the client isallocated.

For example, if an AP has three APs inside it, each of these AP may havea different band (e.g., 2.4, 5, and/or 6 GHz). Because of thesedifferent bands, the range of the beacon frames may vary between eachband. For example, an STA found at a particular distance from the AP,may receive a beacon from the 2.4 GHz band of the respective AP but maynot receive the beacon frame from the 6 GHz of the respective AP.Because of this, the range of a 6 GHz AP (especially low power indoor(LPI) APs) will be significantly reduced compared to a co-located 2.4 or5 GHz AP. Beacons, as they are currently transmitted only on 20 MHz, areparticularly a limiting factor for range. For example, transmitting abeacon at only 20 MHz would have less power than transmitting the beaconat 320 MHz bandwidth.

Example embodiments of the present disclosure relate to systems,methods, and devices for long range beacon for power difference between5 and 6 GHz.

In one embodiment, a long range beacon system may allow beacons to betransmitted in a non-high throughput (HT) duplicate physical layer (PHY)protocol data unit (PPDU) at 6 GHz.

By transmitting the beacon in non-HT duplicate PPDU allows beacons to bereceived at a longer range, if the STA is capable of combining thedifferent duplicates.

In order to allow STAs to combine the different duplicates, it may beproposed:

-   -   To define a mode of operation, where the AP shall always        transmit beacons and probe response frames and fast initial link        setup (FILS) DU, with a minimum BW.    -   For instance, the AP sets the minimum BW to 80 MHz        (independently from its BSS BW, which can be equal or larger),        and therefore commits to always transmits beacons on 80 MHz with        non-HT duplicate mode.    -   The AP advertise to the STAs that it is operating in this mode,        and advertise the necessary parameters, especially the minimum        BW mentioned above.    -   The AP advertise this in its beacons/probe responses, for        instance in its operation element.    -   An AP operating at 2.4/5 GHz or other bands, co-located with        this 6 GHz AP operating with this mode, is already mandated with        11ax today to include an reduced neighbor report (RNR) which        includes a minimum set of information about the 6 GHz AP (BSSID,        short SSID, co-located, operating class/channel, etc.). A long        range beacon system may add to this set of information in the        RNR, an information indicating that the 6 GHz AP operates under        this mode, as well as the minimum BW.

In one or more embodiments, a long range beacon system may define thatwithin an ESS (made of multiple APs with the same SSID to cover anenterprise floor for instance), all APs operate with the same mode andwith the same minimum BW. If this is the case, the signaling can beincluded in an operation element of the APs, and only one bit can beused in the RNR (reduced neighbor report).

In one or more embodiments, a long range beacon system may allow the useof non-high throughput (HT) duplicate PPDU for any transmissions fromthe STA to the AP in order to increase the range at 6 GHz.

In one or more embodiments, a long range beacon system may regulate theuse of non-HT duplicate PPDU by the AP with the following:

An AP includes a signaling in beacons/probe responses (for instance inoperation element) indicating that the use of non-HT duplicate PPDU isallowed or not, and up to how many duplicates are allowed.

If a new long range PPDU is defined with larger BW, that is moreefficient than non-HT duplicate PPDU, it may be proposed to alsoregulate its use with the set of rules defined above. Thanks to thisinformation, a STA will be able to combine the different duplicates of anon-HT duplicate PPDU, to increase the chances to detect a beacontransmitted with such PPDU.

The above descriptions are for purposes of illustration and are notmeant to be limiting. Numerous other examples, configurations,processes, algorithms, etc., may exist, some of which are described ingreater detail below. Example embodiments will now be described withreference to the accompanying figures.

FIG. 1 is a network diagram illustrating an example network environmentof long range beacon, according to some example embodiments of thepresent disclosure. Wireless network 100 may include one or more userdevices 120 and one or more access points(s) (AP) 102, which maycommunicate in accordance with IEEE 802.11 communication standards. Theuser device(s) 120 may be mobile devices that are non-stationary (e.g.,not having fixed locations) or may be stationary devices.

In some embodiments, the user devices 120 and the AP 102 may include oneor more computer systems similar to that of the functional diagram ofFIG. 5 and/or the example machine/system of FIG. 6.

One or more illustrative user device(s) 120 and/or AP(s) 102 may beoperable by one or more user(s) 110. It should be noted that anyaddressable unit may be a station (STA). An STA may take on multipledistinct characteristics, each of which shape its function. For example,a single addressable unit might simultaneously be a portable STA, aquality-of-service (QoS) STA, a dependent STA, and a hidden STA. The oneor more illustrative user device(s) 120 and the AP(s) 102 may be STAs.The one or more illustrative user device(s) 120 and/or AP(s) 102 mayoperate as a personal basic service set (PBSS) control point/accesspoint (PCP/AP). The user device(s) 120 (e.g., 124, 126, or 128) and/orAP(s) 102 may include any suitable processor-driven device including,but not limited to, a mobile device or a non-mobile, e.g., a staticdevice. For example, user device(s) 120 and/or AP(s) 102 may include, auser equipment (UE), a station (STA), an access point (AP), a softwareenabled AP (SoftAP), a personal computer (PC), a wearable wirelessdevice (e.g., bracelet, watch, glasses, ring, etc.), a desktop computer,a mobile computer, a laptop computer, an Ultrabook™ computer, a notebookcomputer, a tablet computer, a server computer, a handheld computer, ahandheld device, an internet of things (IoT) device, a sensor device, aPDA device, a handheld PDA device, an on-board device, an off-boarddevice, a hybrid device (e.g., combining cellular phone functionalitieswith PDA device functionalities), a consumer device, a vehicular device,a non-vehicular device, a mobile or portable device, a non-mobile ornon-portable device, a mobile phone, a cellular telephone, a PCS device,a PDA device which incorporates a wireless communication device, amobile or portable GPS device, a DVB device, a relatively smallcomputing device, a non-desktop computer, a “carry small live large”(CSLL) device, an ultra mobile device (UMD), an ultra mobile PC (UMPC),a mobile Internet device (MID), an “origami” device or computing device,a device that supports dynamically composable computing (DCC), acontext-aware device, a video device, an audio device, an A/V device, aset-top-box (STB), a blu-ray disc (BD) player, a BD recorder, a digitalvideo disc (DVD) player, a high definition (HD) DVD player, a DVDrecorder, a HD DVD recorder, a personal video recorder (PVR), abroadcast HD receiver, a video source, an audio source, a video sink, anaudio sink, a stereo tuner, a broadcast radio receiver, a flat paneldisplay, a personal media player (PMP), a digital video camera (DVC), adigital audio player, a speaker, an audio receiver, an audio amplifier,a gaming device, a data source, a data sink, a digital still camera(DSC), a media player, a smartphone, a television, a music player, orthe like. Other devices, including smart devices such as lamps, climatecontrol, car components, household components, appliances, etc. may alsobe included in this list.

As used herein, the term “Internet of Things (IoT) device” is used torefer to any object (e.g., an appliance, a sensor, etc.) that has anaddressable interface (e.g., an Internet protocol (IP) address, aBluetooth identifier (ID), a near-field communication (NFC) ID, etc.)and can transmit information to one or more other devices over a wiredor wireless connection. An IoT device may have a passive communicationinterface, such as a quick response (QR) code, a radio-frequencyidentification (RFID) tag, an NFC tag, or the like, or an activecommunication interface, such as a modem, a transceiver, atransmitter-receiver, or the like. An IoT device can have a particularset of attributes (e.g., a device state or status, such as whether theIoT device is on or off, open or closed, idle or active, available fortask execution or busy, and so on, a cooling or heating function, anenvironmental monitoring or recording function, a light-emittingfunction, a sound-emitting function, etc.) that can be embedded inand/or controlled/monitored by a central processing unit (CPU),microprocessor, ASIC, or the like, and configured for connection to anIoT network such as a local ad-hoc network or the Internet. For example,IoT devices may include, but are not limited to, refrigerators,toasters, ovens, microwaves, freezers, dishwashers, dishes, hand tools,clothes washers, clothes dryers, furnaces, air conditioners,thermostats, televisions, light fixtures, vacuum cleaners, sprinklers,electricity meters, gas meters, etc., so long as the devices areequipped with an addressable communications interface for communicatingwith the IoT network. IoT devices may also include cell phones, desktopcomputers, laptop computers, tablet computers, personal digitalassistants (PDAs), etc. Accordingly, the IoT network may be comprised ofa combination of “legacy” Internet-accessible devices (e.g., laptop ordesktop computers, cell phones, etc.) in addition to devices that do nottypically have Internet-connectivity (e.g., dishwashers, etc.).

The user device(s) 120 and/or AP(s) 102 may also include mesh stationsin, for example, a mesh network, in accordance with one or more IEEE802.11 standards and/or 3GPP standards.

Any of the user device(s) 120 (e.g., user devices 124, 126, 128), andAP(s) 102 may be configured to communicate with each other via one ormore communications networks 130 and/or 135 wirelessly or wired. Theuser device(s) 120 may also communicate peer-to-peer or directly witheach other with or without the AP(s) 102. Any of the communicationsnetworks 130 and/or 135 may include, but not limited to, any one of acombination of different types of suitable communications networks suchas, for example, broadcasting networks, cable networks, public networks(e.g., the Internet), private networks, wireless networks, cellularnetworks, or any other suitable private and/or public networks. Further,any of the communications networks 130 and/or 135 may have any suitablecommunication range associated therewith and may include, for example,global networks (e.g., the Internet), metropolitan area networks (MANs),wide area networks (WANs), local area networks (LANs), or personal areanetworks (PANs). In addition, any of the communications networks 130and/or 135 may include any type of medium over which network traffic maybe carried including, but not limited to, coaxial cable, twisted-pairwire, optical fiber, a hybrid fiber coaxial (HFC) medium, microwaveterrestrial transceivers, radio frequency communication mediums, whitespace communication mediums, ultra-high frequency communication mediums,satellite communication mediums, or any combination thereof.

Any of the user device(s) 120 (e.g., user devices 124, 126, 128) andAP(s) 102 may include one or more communications antennas. The one ormore communications antennas may be any suitable type of antennascorresponding to the communications protocols used by the user device(s)120 (e.g., user devices 124, 126 and 128), and AP(s) 102. Somenon-limiting examples of suitable communications antennas include Wi-Fiantennas, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)802.11 family of standards compatible antennas, directional antennas,non-directional antennas, dipole antennas, folded dipole antennas, patchantennas, multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) antennas,omnidirectional antennas, quasi-omnidirectional antennas, or the like.The one or more communications antennas may be communicatively coupledto a radio component to transmit and/or receive signals, such ascommunications signals to and/or from the user devices 120 and/or AP(s)102.

Any of the user device(s) 120 (e.g., user devices 124, 126, 128), andAP(s) 102 may be configured to perform directional transmission and/ordirectional reception in conjunction with wirelessly communicating in awireless network. Any of the user device(s) 120 (e.g., user devices 124,126, 128), and AP(s) 102 may be configured to perform such directionaltransmission and/or reception using a set of multiple antenna arrays(e.g., DMG antenna arrays or the like). Each of the multiple antennaarrays may be used for transmission and/or reception in a particularrespective direction or range of directions. Any of the user device(s)120 (e.g., user devices 124, 126, 128), and AP(s) 102 may be configuredto perform any given directional transmission towards one or moredefined transmit sectors. Any of the user device(s) 120 (e.g., userdevices 124, 126, 128), and AP(s) 102 may be configured to perform anygiven directional reception from one or more defined receive sectors.

MIMO beamforming in a wireless network may be accomplished using RFbeamforming and/or digital beamforming. In some embodiments, inperforming a given MIMO transmission, user devices 120 and/or AP(s) 102may be configured to use all or a subset of its one or morecommunications antennas to perform MIMO beamforming.

Any of the user devices 120 (e.g., user devices 124, 126, 128), andAP(s) 102 may include any suitable radio and/or transceiver fortransmitting and/or receiving radio frequency (RF) signals in thebandwidth and/or channels corresponding to the communications protocolsutilized by any of the user device(s) 120 and AP(s) 102 to communicatewith each other. The radio components may include hardware and/orsoftware to modulate and/or demodulate communications signals accordingto pre-established transmission protocols. The radio components mayfurther have hardware and/or software instructions to communicate viaone or more Wi-Fi and/or Wi-Fi direct protocols, as standardized by theInstitute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11standards. In certain example embodiments, the radio component, incooperation with the communications antennas, may be configured tocommunicate via 2.4 GHz channels (e.g., 802.11b, 802.11g, 802.11n,802.11ax), 5 GHz channels (e.g., 802.11n, 802.11ac, 802.11ax), or 60 GHZchannels (e.g., 802.11ad, 802.11ay). 800 MHz channels (e.g., 802.11ah).The communications antennas may operate at 28 GHz and 40 GHz. It shouldbe understood that this list of communication channels in accordancewith certain 802.11 standards is only a partial list and that other802.11 standards may be used (e.g., Next Generation Wi-Fi, or otherstandards). In some embodiments, non-Wi-Fi protocols may be used forcommunications between devices, such as Bluetooth, dedicated short-rangecommunication (DSRC), Ultra-High Frequency (UHF) (e.g., IEEE 802.11af,IEEE 802.22), white band frequency (e.g., white spaces), or otherpacketized radio communications. The radio component may include anyknown receiver and baseband suitable for communicating via thecommunications protocols. The radio component may further include a lownoise amplifier (LNA), additional signal amplifiers, ananalog-to-digital (A/D) converter, one or more buffers, and digitalbaseband.

In one embodiment, and with reference to FIG. 1, AP 102 may facilitatelong range beacon 142 with one or more user devices 120.

It is understood that the above descriptions are for purposes ofillustration and are not meant to be limiting.

FIG. 2 depicts an illustrative schematic diagram for a long range beaconsystem, in accordance with one or more example embodiments of thepresent disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 2, there is shown Table 1. As shown in Table 1, thePSD limit in 6 GHz regulation is −1 dBm/MHz EIRP for the non-AP STA, and5 dBm/MHz for the AP. It means the total TX power for the client can besignificantly limited in 6 GHz depends on the RU size the client isallocated.

Because of this, the range of a 6 GHz AP (especially LPI APs) will besignificantly be reduced compared to a co-located 2.4 or 5 GHz AP.

FIGS. 3A-3C depict illustrative schematic diagrams for a long rangebeacon system, in accordance with one or more example embodiments of thepresent disclosure.

Beacons, as they are currently transmitted only on 20 MHz, areparticularly a limiting factor for range.

In one or more embodiments, a long range beacon system may facilitate anexample change in the BSS Parameters subfield in the target beacontransmission time (TBTT) information field in the reduced neighborreport to include a new field. Possible signaling for solution withnon-HT duplicate used by all APs within an extended service set (ESS).

The format of the BSS Parameters subfield is shown in FIG. 3A Error!Reference source not found.

The Member Of ESS With Duplicate Beacon subfield is set to 1 if thereported AP is part of an ESS where each AP in the ESS and operating inthe same band as the reported AP (irrespective of the operating channelin that band) that might be detected by a STA receiving this frame hasdot11MemberOfESSWithDuplicateBeaconOptionImplemented equal to true andalways transmits beacon and probe response frames using non-HT duplicatePPDU with a minimum BW. It is set to 0 otherwise or if the reporting APdoes not have that information. It is reserved if the reported AP isoperating in the 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz bands.

New fields in the ESS report or high efficiency (HE) or extreme highthroughput (EHT) operation element in the beacons of all APs of the ESSimplementing this mode:

-   -   A field indicating that this mode is activated.    -   A field indicating the minimum bandwidth (BW).

The Minimum Bandwidth field is set to the minimum BW with which beaconsand probe response frames are transmitted using non-HT duplicate mode.

If the AP sets this field to activated, the AP shall transmit all beaconand probe response and FILS Discover frames it transmits using non-HTduplicate PPDU with a minimum BW higher or equal to the bandwidth valuein the Minimum Bandwidth field in the Operation Element or the ESSreport element that the AP transmits.

Possible signaling for solution with non-HT duplicate used by a singleAP.

Referring to FIG. 3B, there is shown target beacon transmission time(TBTT) information field format.

Referring to FIG. 3C, there is shown a basic service set (BSS)Parameters2 subfield format.

The Minimum BW for Duplicate physical layer (PHY) protocol data unit(PPDU) indicates the minimum bandwidth that the AP shall use to transmitbeacon, probe response, FILS Discovery frames using non-HT duplicatemode. It is set to 0 if the AP does not use Non-HT duplicate mode forthe transmission of beacon, probe response, fast initial link setup(FILS) Discovery frames. Example Values: 1 for 40 MHz, 2 for 80 MHz, 4for 160 MHz, 5 for 320 MHz. It is understood that the above descriptionsare for purposes of illustration and are not meant to be limiting.

FIG. 4 illustrates a flow diagram of illustrative process 400 for a longrange beacon system, in accordance with one or more example embodimentsof the present disclosure.

At block 402, a device (e.g., the user device(s) 120 and/or the AP 102of FIG. 1) may determine one or more co-located frequency bands with a 6GHz access point (AP).

At block 404, the device may generate a reduced neighbor report (RNR),wherein the RNR comprises information associated with the 6 GHz AP.

At block 406, the device may determine a minimum bandwidth to transmit abeacon frame using a communication mode.

At block 408, the device may cause to send the beacon frame to a firststation device.

It is understood that the above descriptions are for purposes ofillustration and are not meant to be limiting.

FIG. 5 shows a functional diagram of an exemplary communication station500, in accordance with one or more example embodiments of the presentdisclosure. In one embodiment, FIG. 5 illustrates a functional blockdiagram of a communication station that may be suitable for use as an AP102 (FIG. 1) or a user device 120 (FIG. 1) in accordance with someembodiments. The communication station 500 may also be suitable for useas a handheld device, a mobile device, a cellular telephone, asmartphone, a tablet, a netbook, a wireless terminal, a laptop computer,a wearable computer device, a femtocell, a high data rate (HDR)subscriber station, an access point, an access terminal, or otherpersonal communication system (PCS) device.

The communication station 500 may include communications circuitry 502and a transceiver 510 for transmitting and receiving signals to and fromother communication stations using one or more antennas 501. Thecommunications circuitry 502 may include circuitry that can operate thephysical layer (PHY) communications and/or medium access control (MAC)communications for controlling access to the wireless medium, and/or anyother communications layers for transmitting and receiving signals. Thecommunication station 500 may also include processing circuitry 506 andmemory 508 arranged to perform the operations described herein. In someembodiments, the communications circuitry 502 and the processingcircuitry 506 may be configured to perform operations detailed in theabove figures, diagrams, and flows.

In accordance with some embodiments, the communications circuitry 502may be arranged to contend for a wireless medium and configure frames orpackets for communicating over the wireless medium. The communicationscircuitry 502 may be arranged to transmit and receive signals. Thecommunications circuitry 502 may also include circuitry formodulation/demodulation, upconversion/downconversion, filtering,amplification, etc. In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 506 ofthe communication station 500 may include one or more processors. Inother embodiments, two or more antennas 501 may be coupled to thecommunications circuitry 502 arranged for sending and receiving signals.The memory 508 may store information for configuring the processingcircuitry 506 to perform operations for configuring and transmittingmessage frames and performing the various operations described herein.The memory 508 may include any type of memory, including non-transitorymemory, for storing information in a form readable by a machine (e.g., acomputer). For example, the memory 508 may include a computer-readablestorage device, read-only memory (ROM), random-access memory (RAM),magnetic disk storage media, optical storage media, flash-memory devicesand other storage devices and media.

In some embodiments, the communication station 500 may be part of aportable wireless communication device, such as a personal digitalassistant (PDA), a laptop or portable computer with wirelesscommunication capability, a web tablet, a wireless telephone, asmartphone, a wireless headset, a pager, an instant messaging device, adigital camera, an access point, a television, a medical device (e.g., aheart rate monitor, a blood pressure monitor, etc.), a wearable computerdevice, or another device that may receive and/or transmit informationwirelessly.

In some embodiments, the communication station 500 may include one ormore antennas 501. The antennas 501 may include one or more directionalor omnidirectional antennas, including, for example, dipole antennas,monopole antennas, patch antennas, loop antennas, microstrip antennas,or other types of antennas suitable for transmission of RF signals. Insome embodiments, instead of two or more antennas, a single antenna withmultiple apertures may be used. In these embodiments, each aperture maybe considered a separate antenna. In some multiple-input multiple-output(MIMO) embodiments, the antennas may be effectively separated forspatial diversity and the different channel characteristics that mayresult between each of the antennas and the antennas of a transmittingstation.

In some embodiments, the communication station 500 may include one ormore of a keyboard, a display, a non-volatile memory port, multipleantennas, a graphics processor, an application processor, speakers, andother mobile device elements. The display may be an LCD screen includinga touch screen.

Although the communication station 500 is illustrated as having severalseparate functional elements, two or more of the functional elements maybe combined and may be implemented by combinations ofsoftware-configured elements, such as processing elements includingdigital signal processors (DSPs), and/or other hardware elements. Forexample, some elements may include one or more microprocessors, DSPs,field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), application specific integratedcircuits (ASIC s), radio-frequency integrated circuits (RFICs) andcombinations of various hardware and logic circuitry for performing atleast the functions described herein. In some embodiments, thefunctional elements of the communication station 500 may refer to one ormore processes operating on one or more processing elements.

Certain embodiments may be implemented in one or a combination ofhardware, firmware, and software. Other embodiments may also beimplemented as instructions stored on a computer-readable storagedevice, which may be read and executed by at least one processor toperform the operations described herein. A computer-readable storagedevice may include any non-transitory memory mechanism for storinginformation in a form readable by a machine (e.g., a computer). Forexample, a computer-readable storage device may include read-only memory(ROM), random-access memory (RAM), magnetic disk storage media, opticalstorage media, flash-memory devices, and other storage devices andmedia. In some embodiments, the communication station 500 may includeone or more processors and may be configured with instructions stored ona computer-readable storage device.

FIG. 6 illustrates a block diagram of an example of a machine 600 orsystem upon which any one or more of the techniques (e.g.,methodologies) discussed herein may be performed. In other embodiments,the machine 600 may operate as a standalone device or may be connected(e.g., networked) to other machines. In a networked deployment, themachine 600 may operate in the capacity of a server machine, a clientmachine, or both in server-client network environments. In an example,the machine 600 may act as a peer machine in peer-to-peer (P2P) (orother distributed) network environments. The machine 600 may be apersonal computer (PC), a tablet PC, a set-top box (STB), a personaldigital assistant (PDA), a mobile telephone, a wearable computer device,a web appliance, a network router, a switch or bridge, or any machinecapable of executing instructions (sequential or otherwise) that specifyactions to be taken by that machine, such as a base station. Further,while only a single machine is illustrated, the term “machine” shallalso be taken to include any collection of machines that individually orjointly execute a set (or multiple sets) of instructions to perform anyone or more of the methodologies discussed herein, such as cloudcomputing, software as a service (SaaS), or other computer clusterconfigurations.

Examples, as described herein, may include or may operate on logic or anumber of components, modules, or mechanisms. Modules are tangibleentities (e.g., hardware) capable of performing specified operationswhen operating. A module includes hardware. In an example, the hardwaremay be specifically configured to carry out a specific operation (e.g.,hardwired). In another example, the hardware may include configurableexecution units (e.g., transistors, circuits, etc.) and a computerreadable medium containing instructions where the instructions configurethe execution units to carry out a specific operation when in operation.The configuring may occur under the direction of the executions units ora loading mechanism. Accordingly, the execution units arecommunicatively coupled to the computer-readable medium when the deviceis operating. In this example, the execution units may be a member ofmore than one module. For example, under operation, the execution unitsmay be configured by a first set of instructions to implement a firstmodule at one point in time and reconfigured by a second set ofinstructions to implement a second module at a second point in time.

The machine (e.g., computer system) 600 may include a hardware processor602 (e.g., a central processing unit (CPU), a graphics processing unit(GPU), a hardware processor core, or any combination thereof), a mainmemory 604 and a static memory 606, some or all of which may communicatewith each other via an interlink (e.g., bus) 608. The machine 600 mayfurther include a power management device 632, a graphics display device610, an alphanumeric input device 612 (e.g., a keyboard), and a userinterface (UI) navigation device 614 (e.g., a mouse). In an example, thegraphics display device 610, alphanumeric input device 612, and UInavigation device 614 may be a touch screen display. The machine 600 mayadditionally include a storage device (i.e., drive unit) 616, a signalgeneration device 618 (e.g., a speaker), a long range beacon device 619,a network interface device/transceiver 620 coupled to antenna(s) 630,and one or more sensors 628, such as a global positioning system (GPS)sensor, a compass, an accelerometer, or other sensor. The machine 600may include an output controller 634, such as a serial (e.g., universalserial bus (USB), parallel, or other wired or wireless (e.g., infrared(IR), near field communication (NFC), etc.) connection to communicatewith or control one or more peripheral devices (e.g., a printer, a cardreader, etc.)). The operations in accordance with one or more exampleembodiments of the present disclosure may be carried out by a basebandprocessor. The baseband processor may be configured to generatecorresponding baseband signals. The baseband processor may furtherinclude physical layer (PHY) and medium access control layer (MAC)circuitry, and may further interface with the hardware processor 602 forgeneration and processing of the baseband signals and for controllingoperations of the main memory 604, the storage device 616, and/or thelong range beacon device 619. The baseband processor may be provided ona single radio card, a single chip, or an integrated circuit (IC).

The storage device 616 may include a machine readable medium 622 onwhich is stored one or more sets of data structures or instructions 624(e.g., software) embodying or utilized by any one or more of thetechniques or functions described herein. The instructions 624 may alsoreside, completely or at least partially, within the main memory 604,within the static memory 606, or within the hardware processor 602during execution thereof by the machine 600. In an example, one or anycombination of the hardware processor 602, the main memory 604, thestatic memory 606, or the storage device 616 may constitutemachine-readable media.

The long range beacon device 619 may carry out or perform any of theoperations and processes (e.g., process 400) described and shown above.

It is understood that the above are only a subset of what the long rangebeacon device 619 may be configured to perform and that other functionsincluded throughout this disclosure may also be performed by the longrange beacon device 619.

While the machine-readable medium 622 is illustrated as a single medium,the term “machine-readable medium” may include a single medium ormultiple media (e.g., a centralized or distributed database, and/orassociated caches and servers) configured to store the one or moreinstructions 624.

Various embodiments may be implemented fully or partially in softwareand/or firmware. This software and/or firmware may take the form ofinstructions contained in or on a non-transitory computer-readablestorage medium. Those instructions may then be read and executed by oneor more processors to enable performance of the operations describedherein. The instructions may be in any suitable form, such as but notlimited to source code, compiled code, interpreted code, executablecode, static code, dynamic code, and the like. Such a computer-readablemedium may include any tangible non-transitory medium for storinginformation in a form readable by one or more computers, such as but notlimited to read only memory (ROM); random access memory (RAM); magneticdisk storage media; optical storage media; a flash memory, etc.

The term “machine-readable medium” may include any medium that iscapable of storing, encoding, or carrying instructions for execution bythe machine 600 and that cause the machine 600 to perform any one ormore of the techniques of the present disclosure, or that is capable ofstoring, encoding, or carrying data structures used by or associatedwith such instructions. Non-limiting machine-readable medium examplesmay include solid-state memories and optical and magnetic media. In anexample, a massed machine-readable medium includes a machine-readablemedium with a plurality of particles having resting mass. Specificexamples of massed machine-readable media may include non-volatilememory, such as semiconductor memory devices (e.g., electricallyprogrammable read-only memory (EPROM), or electrically erasableprogrammable read-only memory (EEPROM)) and flash memory devices;magnetic disks, such as internal hard disks and removable disks;magneto-optical disks; and CD-ROM and DVD-ROM disks.

The instructions 624 may further be transmitted or received over acommunications network 626 using a transmission medium via the networkinterface device/transceiver 620 utilizing any one of a number oftransfer protocols (e.g., frame relay, internet protocol (IP),transmission control protocol (TCP), user datagram protocol (UDP),hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP), etc.). Example communicationsnetworks may include a local area network (LAN), a wide area network(WAN), a packet data network (e.g., the Internet), mobile telephonenetworks (e.g., cellular networks), plain old telephone (POTS) networks,wireless data networks (e.g., Institute of Electrical and ElectronicsEngineers (IEEE) 802.11 family of standards known as Wi-Fi®, IEEE 802.16family of standards known as WiMax®), IEEE 802.15.4 family of standards,and peer-to-peer (P2P) networks, among others. In an example, thenetwork interface device/transceiver 620 may include one or morephysical jacks (e.g., Ethernet, coaxial, or phone jacks) or one or moreantennas to connect to the communications network 626. In an example,the network interface device/transceiver 620 may include a plurality ofantennas to wirelessly communicate using at least one of single-inputmultiple-output (SIMO), multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO), ormultiple-input single-output (MISO) techniques. The term “transmissionmedium” shall be taken to include any intangible medium that is capableof storing, encoding, or carrying instructions for execution by themachine 600 and includes digital or analog communications signals orother intangible media to facilitate communication of such software.

The operations and processes described and shown above may be carriedout or performed in any suitable order as desired in variousimplementations. Additionally, in certain implementations, at least aportion of the operations may be carried out in parallel. Furthermore,in certain implementations, less than or more than the operationsdescribed may be performed.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of a radio architecture 105A, 105B inaccordance with some embodiments that may be implemented in any one ofthe example AP 102 and/or the example STA 120 of FIG. 1. Radioarchitecture 105A, 105B may include radio front-end module (FEM)circuitry 704 a-b, radio IC circuitry 706 a-b and baseband processingcircuitry 708 a-b. Radio architecture 105A, 105B as shown includes bothWireless Local Area Network (WLAN) functionality and Bluetooth (BT)functionality although embodiments are not so limited. In thisdisclosure, “WLAN” and “Wi-Fi” are used interchangeably.

FEM circuitry 704 a-b may include a WLAN or Wi-Fi FEM circuitry 704 aand a Bluetooth (BT) FEM circuitry 704 b. The WLAN FEM circuitry 704 amay include a receive signal path comprising circuitry configured tooperate on WLAN RF signals received from one or more antennas 701, toamplify the received signals and to provide the amplified versions ofthe received signals to the WLAN radio IC circuitry 706 a for furtherprocessing. The BT FEM circuitry 704 b may include a receive signal pathwhich may include circuitry configured to operate on BT RF signalsreceived from one or more antennas 701, to amplify the received signalsand to provide the amplified versions of the received signals to the BTradio IC circuitry 706 b for further processing. FEM circuitry 704 a mayalso include a transmit signal path which may include circuitryconfigured to amplify WLAN signals provided by the radio IC circuitry706 a for wireless transmission by one or more of the antennas 701. Inaddition, FEM circuitry 704 b may also include a transmit signal pathwhich may include circuitry configured to amplify BT signals provided bythe radio IC circuitry 706 b for wireless transmission by the one ormore antennas. In the embodiment of FIG. 7, although FEM 704 a and FEM704 b are shown as being distinct from one another, embodiments are notso limited, and include within their scope the use of an FEM (not shown)that includes a transmit path and/or a receive path for both WLAN and BTsignals, or the use of one or more FEM circuitries where at least someof the FEM circuitries share transmit and/or receive signal paths forboth WLAN and BT signals.

Radio IC circuitry 706 a-b as shown may include WLAN radio IC circuitry706 a and BT radio IC circuitry 706 b. The WLAN radio IC circuitry 706 amay include a receive signal path which may include circuitry todown-convert WLAN RF signals received from the FEM circuitry 704 a andprovide baseband signals to WLAN baseband processing circuitry 708 a. BTradio IC circuitry 706 b may in turn include a receive signal path whichmay include circuitry to down-convert BT RF signals received from theFEM circuitry 704 b and provide baseband signals to BT basebandprocessing circuitry 708 b. WLAN radio IC circuitry 706 a may alsoinclude a transmit signal path which may include circuitry to up-convertWLAN baseband signals provided by the WLAN baseband processing circuitry708 a and provide WLAN RF output signals to the FEM circuitry 704 a forsubsequent wireless transmission by the one or more antennas 701. BTradio IC circuitry 706 b may also include a transmit signal path whichmay include circuitry to up-convert BT baseband signals provided by theBT baseband processing circuitry 708 b and provide BT RF output signalsto the FEM circuitry 704 b for subsequent wireless transmission by theone or more antennas 701. In the embodiment of FIG. 7, although radio ICcircuitries 706 a and 706 b are shown as being distinct from oneanother, embodiments are not so limited, and include within their scopethe use of a radio IC circuitry (not shown) that includes a transmitsignal path and/or a receive signal path for both WLAN and BT signals,or the use of one or more radio IC circuitries where at least some ofthe radio IC circuitries share transmit and/or receive signal paths forboth WLAN and BT signals.

Baseband processing circuitry 708 a-b may include a WLAN basebandprocessing circuitry 708 a and a BT baseband processing circuitry 708 b.The WLAN baseband processing circuitry 708 a may include a memory, suchas, for example, a set of RAM arrays in a Fast Fourier Transform orInverse Fast Fourier Transform block (not shown) of the WLAN basebandprocessing circuitry 708 a. Each of the WLAN baseband circuitry 708 aand the BT baseband circuitry 708 b may further include one or moreprocessors and control logic to process the signals received from thecorresponding WLAN or BT receive signal path of the radio IC circuitry706 a-b, and to also generate corresponding WLAN or BT baseband signalsfor the transmit signal path of the radio IC circuitry 706 a-b. Each ofthe baseband processing circuitries 708 a and 708 b may further includephysical layer (PHY) and medium access control layer (MAC) circuitry,and may further interface with a device for generation and processing ofthe baseband signals and for controlling operations of the radio ICcircuitry 706 a-b.

Referring still to FIG. 7, according to the shown embodiment, WLAN-BTcoexistence circuitry 713 may include logic providing an interfacebetween the WLAN baseband circuitry 708 a and the BT baseband circuitry708 b to enable use cases requiring WLAN and BT coexistence. Inaddition, a switch 703 may be provided between the WLAN FEM circuitry704 a and the BT FEM circuitry 704 b to allow switching between the WLANand BT radios according to application needs. In addition, although theantennas 701 are depicted as being respectively connected to the WLANFEM circuitry 704 a and the BT FEM circuitry 704 b, embodiments includewithin their scope the sharing of one or more antennas as between theWLAN and BT FEMs, or the provision of more than one antenna connected toeach of FEM 704 a or 704 b.

In some embodiments, the front-end module circuitry 704 a-b, the radioIC circuitry 706 a-b, and baseband processing circuitry 708 a-b may beprovided on a single radio card, such as wireless radio card 702. Insome other embodiments, the one or more antennas 701, the FEM circuitry704 a-b and the radio IC circuitry 706 a-b may be provided on a singleradio card. In some other embodiments, the radio IC circuitry 706 a-band the baseband processing circuitry 708 a-b may be provided on asingle chip or integrated circuit (IC), such as IC 712.

In some embodiments, the wireless radio card 702 may include a WLANradio card and may be configured for Wi-Fi communications, although thescope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect. In some ofthese embodiments, the radio architecture 105A, 105B may be configuredto receive and transmit orthogonal frequency division multiplexed (OFDM)or orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) communicationsignals over a multicarrier communication channel. The OFDM or OFDMAsignals may comprise a plurality of orthogonal subcarriers.

In some of these multicarrier embodiments, radio architecture 105A, 105Bmay be part of a Wi-Fi communication station (STA) such as a wirelessaccess point (AP), a base station or a mobile device including a Wi-Fidevice. In some of these embodiments, radio architecture 105A, 105B maybe configured to transmit and receive signals in accordance withspecific communication standards and/or protocols, such as any of theInstitute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) standardsincluding, 802.11n-2009, IEEE 802.11-2012, IEEE 802.11-2016,802.11n-2009, 802.11ac, 802.11ah, 802.11ad, 802.11 ay and/or 802.11axstandards and/or proposed specifications for WLANs, although the scopeof embodiments is not limited in this respect. Radio architecture 105A,105B may also be suitable to transmit and/or receive communications inaccordance with other techniques and standards.

In some embodiments, the radio architecture 105A, 105B may be configuredfor high-efficiency Wi-Fi (HEW) communications in accordance with theIEEE 802.11ax standard. In these embodiments, the radio architecture105A, 105B may be configured to communicate in accordance with an OFDMAtechnique, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in thisrespect.

In some other embodiments, the radio architecture 105A, 105B may beconfigured to transmit and receive signals transmitted using one or moreother modulation techniques such as spread spectrum modulation (e.g.,direct sequence code division multiple access (DS-CDMA) and/or frequencyhopping code division multiple access (FH-CDMA)), time-divisionmultiplexing (TDM) modulation, and/or frequency-division multiplexing(FDM) modulation, although the scope of the embodiments is not limitedin this respect.

In some embodiments, as further shown in FIG. 6, the BT basebandcircuitry 708 b may be compliant with a Bluetooth (BT) connectivitystandard such as Bluetooth, Bluetooth 8.0 or Bluetooth 6.0, or any otheriteration of the Bluetooth Standard.

In some embodiments, the radio architecture 105A, 105B may include otherradio cards, such as a cellular radio card configured for cellular(e.g., 5GPP such as LTE, LTE-Advanced or 7G communications).

In some IEEE 802.11 embodiments, the radio architecture 105A, 105B maybe configured for communication over various channel bandwidthsincluding bandwidths having center frequencies of about 900 MHz, 2.4GHz, 5 GHz, and bandwidths of about 2 MHz, 4 MHz, 5 MHz, 5.5 MHz, 6 MHz,8 MHz, 10 MHz, 20 MHz, 40 MHz, 80 MHz (with contiguous bandwidths) or80+80 MHz (160 MHz) (with non-contiguous bandwidths). In someembodiments, a 920 MHz channel bandwidth may be used. The scope of theembodiments is not limited with respect to the above center frequencieshowever.

FIG. 8 illustrates WLAN FEM circuitry 704 a in accordance with someembodiments. Although the example of FIG. 8 is described in conjunctionwith the WLAN FEM circuitry 704 a, the example of FIG. 8 may bedescribed in conjunction with the example BT FEM circuitry 704 b (FIG.7), although other circuitry configurations may also be suitable.

In some embodiments, the FEM circuitry 704 a may include a TX/RX switch802 to switch between transmit mode and receive mode operation. The FEMcircuitry 704 a may include a receive signal path and a transmit signalpath. The receive signal path of the FEM circuitry 704 a may include alow-noise amplifier (LNA) 806 to amplify received RF signals 803 andprovide the amplified received RF signals 807 as an output (e.g., to theradio IC circuitry 706 a-b (FIG. 7)). The transmit signal path of thecircuitry 704 a may include a power amplifier (PA) to amplify input RFsignals 809 (e.g., provided by the radio IC circuitry 706 a-b), and oneor more filters 812, such as band-pass filters (BPFs), low-pass filters(LPFs) or other types of filters, to generate RF signals 815 forsubsequent transmission (e.g., by one or more of the antennas 701 (FIG.7)) via an example duplexer 814.

In some dual-mode embodiments for Wi-Fi communication, the FEM circuitry704 a may be configured to operate in either the 2.4 GHz frequencyspectrum or the 5 GHz frequency spectrum. In these embodiments, thereceive signal path of the FEM circuitry 704 a may include a receivesignal path duplexer 804 to separate the signals from each spectrum aswell as provide a separate LNA 806 for each spectrum as shown. In theseembodiments, the transmit signal path of the FEM circuitry 704 a mayalso include a power amplifier 810 and a filter 812, such as a BPF, anLPF or another type of filter for each frequency spectrum and a transmitsignal path duplexer 804 to provide the signals of one of the differentspectrums onto a single transmit path for subsequent transmission by theone or more of the antennas 701 (FIG. 7). In some embodiments, BTcommunications may utilize the 2.4 GHz signal paths and may utilize thesame FEM circuitry 704 a as the one used for WLAN communications.

FIG. 9 illustrates radio IC circuitry 706 a in accordance with someembodiments. The radio IC circuitry 706 a is one example of circuitrythat may be suitable for use as the WLAN or BT radio IC circuitry 706a/706 b (FIG. 7), although other circuitry configurations may also besuitable. Alternatively, the example of FIG. 9 may be described inconjunction with the example BT radio IC circuitry 706 b.

In some embodiments, the radio IC circuitry 706 a may include a receivesignal path and a transmit signal path. The receive signal path of theradio IC circuitry 706 a may include at least mixer circuitry 902, suchas, for example, down-conversion mixer circuitry, amplifier circuitry906 and filter circuitry 908. The transmit signal path of the radio ICcircuitry 706 a may include at least filter circuitry 912 and mixercircuitry 914, such as, for example, up-conversion mixer circuitry.Radio IC circuitry 706 a may also include synthesizer circuitry 904 forsynthesizing a frequency 905 for use by the mixer circuitry 902 and themixer circuitry 914. The mixer circuitry 902 and/or 914 may each,according to some embodiments, be configured to provide directconversion functionality. The latter type of circuitry presents a muchsimpler architecture as compared with standard super-heterodyne mixercircuitries, and any flicker noise brought about by the same may bealleviated for example through the use of OFDM modulation. FIG. 9illustrates only a simplified version of a radio IC circuitry, and mayinclude, although not shown, embodiments where each of the depictedcircuitries may include more than one component. For instance, mixercircuitry 914 may each include one or more mixers, and filtercircuitries 908 and/or 912 may each include one or more filters, such asone or more BPFs and/or LPFs according to application needs. Forexample, when mixer circuitries are of the direct-conversion type, theymay each include two or more mixers.

In some embodiments, mixer circuitry 902 may be configured todown-convert RF signals 807 received from the FEM circuitry 704 a-b(FIG. 7) based on the synthesized frequency 905 provided by synthesizercircuitry 904. The amplifier circuitry 906 may be configured to amplifythe down-converted signals and the filter circuitry 908 may include anLPF configured to remove unwanted signals from the down-convertedsignals to generate output baseband signals 907. Output baseband signals907 may be provided to the baseband processing circuitry 708 a-b (FIG.7) for further processing. In some embodiments, the output basebandsignals 907 may be zero-frequency baseband signals, although this is nota requirement. In some embodiments, mixer circuitry 902 may comprisepassive mixers, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited inthis respect.

In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 914 may be configured toup-convert input baseband signals 911 based on the synthesized frequency905 provided by the synthesizer circuitry 904 to generate RF outputsignals 809 for the FEM circuitry 704 a-b. The baseband signals 911 maybe provided by the baseband processing circuitry 708 a-b and may befiltered by filter circuitry 912. The filter circuitry 912 may includean LPF or a BPF, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited inthis respect.

In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 902 and the mixer circuitry 914may each include two or more mixers and may be arranged for quadraturedown-conversion and/or up-conversion respectively with the help ofsynthesizer 904. In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 902 and themixer circuitry 914 may each include two or more mixers each configuredfor image rejection (e.g., Hartley image rejection). In someembodiments, the mixer circuitry 902 and the mixer circuitry 914 may bearranged for direct down-conversion and/or direct up-conversion,respectively. In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 902 and the mixercircuitry 914 may be configured for super-heterodyne operation, althoughthis is not a requirement.

Mixer circuitry 902 may comprise, according to one embodiment:quadrature passive mixers (e.g., for the in-phase (I) and quadraturephase (Q) paths). In such an embodiment, RF input signal 807 from FIG. 9may be down-converted to provide I and Q baseband output signals to besent to the baseband processor

Quadrature passive mixers may be driven by zero and ninety-degreetime-varying LO switching signals provided by a quadrature circuitrywhich may be configured to receive a LO frequency (fLO) from a localoscillator or a synthesizer, such as LO frequency 905 of synthesizer 904(FIG. 9). In some embodiments, the LO frequency may be the carrierfrequency, while in other embodiments, the LO frequency may be afraction of the carrier frequency (e.g., one-half the carrier frequency,one-third the carrier frequency). In some embodiments, the zero andninety-degree time-varying switching signals may be generated by thesynthesizer, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited inthis respect.

In some embodiments, the LO signals may differ in duty cycle (thepercentage of one period in which the LO signal is high) and/or offset(the difference between start points of the period). In someembodiments, the LO signals may have an 85% duty cycle and an 80%offset. In some embodiments, each branch of the mixer circuitry (e.g.,the in-phase (I) and quadrature phase (Q) path) may operate at an 80%duty cycle, which may result in a significant reduction is powerconsumption.

The RF input signal 807 (FIG. 8) may comprise a balanced signal,although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.The I and Q baseband output signals may be provided to low-noiseamplifier, such as amplifier circuitry 906 (FIG. 9) or to filtercircuitry 908 (FIG. 9).

In some embodiments, the output baseband signals 907 and the inputbaseband signals 911 may be analog baseband signals, although the scopeof the embodiments is not limited in this respect. In some alternateembodiments, the output baseband signals 907 and the input basebandsignals 911 may be digital baseband signals. In these alternateembodiments, the radio IC circuitry may include analog-to-digitalconverter (ADC) and digital-to-analog converter (DAC) circuitry.

In some dual-mode embodiments, a separate radio IC circuitry may beprovided for processing signals for each spectrum, or for otherspectrums not mentioned here, although the scope of the embodiments isnot limited in this respect.

In some embodiments, the synthesizer circuitry 904 may be a fractional-Nsynthesizer or a fractional N/N+1 synthesizer, although the scope of theembodiments is not limited in this respect as other types of frequencysynthesizers may be suitable. For example, synthesizer circuitry 904 maybe a delta-sigma synthesizer, a frequency multiplier, or a synthesizercomprising a phase-locked loop with a frequency divider. According tosome embodiments, the synthesizer circuitry 904 may include digitalsynthesizer circuitry. An advantage of using a digital synthesizercircuitry is that, although it may still include some analog components,its footprint may be scaled down much more than the footprint of ananalog synthesizer circuitry. In some embodiments, frequency input intosynthesizer circuitry 904 may be provided by a voltage controlledoscillator (VCO), although that is not a requirement. A divider controlinput may further be provided by either the baseband processingcircuitry 708 a-b (FIG. 7) depending on the desired output frequency905. In some embodiments, a divider control input (e.g., N) may bedetermined from a look-up table (e.g., within a Wi-Fi card) based on achannel number and a channel center frequency as determined or indicatedby the example application processor 710. The application processor 710may include, or otherwise be connected to, one of the example securesignal converter 101 or the example received signal converter 103 (e.g.,depending on which device the example radio architecture is implementedin).

In some embodiments, synthesizer circuitry 904 may be configured togenerate a carrier frequency as the output frequency 905, while in otherembodiments, the output frequency 905 may be a fraction of the carrierfrequency (e.g., one-half the carrier frequency, one-third the carrierfrequency). In some embodiments, the output frequency 905 may be a LOfrequency (fLO).

FIG. 10 illustrates a functional block diagram of baseband processingcircuitry 708 a in accordance with some embodiments. The basebandprocessing circuitry 708 a is one example of circuitry that may besuitable for use as the baseband processing circuitry 708 a (FIG. 7),although other circuitry configurations may also be suitable.Alternatively, the example of FIG. 9 may be used to implement theexample BT baseband processing circuitry 708 b of FIG. 7.

The baseband processing circuitry 708 a may include a receive basebandprocessor (RX BBP) 1002 for processing receive baseband signals 909provided by the radio IC circuitry 706 a-b (FIG. 7) and a transmitbaseband processor (TX BBP) 1004 for generating transmit basebandsignals 911 for the radio IC circuitry 706 a-b. The baseband processingcircuitry 708 a may also include control logic 1006 for coordinating theoperations of the baseband processing circuitry 708 a.

In some embodiments (e.g., when analog baseband signals are exchangedbetween the baseband processing circuitry 708 a-b and the radio ICcircuitry 706 a-b), the baseband processing circuitry 708 a may includeADC 1010 to convert analog baseband signals 1009 received from the radioIC circuitry 706 a-b to digital baseband signals for processing by theRX BBP 1002. In these embodiments, the baseband processing circuitry 708a may also include DAC 1012 to convert digital baseband signals from theTX BBP 1004 to analog baseband signals 1011.

In some embodiments that communicate OFDM signals or OFDMA signals, suchas through baseband processor 708 a, the transmit baseband processor1004 may be configured to generate OFDM or OFDMA signals as appropriatefor transmission by performing an inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT).The receive baseband processor 1002 may be configured to processreceived OFDM signals or OFDMA signals by performing an FFT. In someembodiments, the receive baseband processor 1002 may be configured todetect the presence of an OFDM signal or OFDMA signal by performing anautocorrelation, to detect a preamble, such as a short preamble, and byperforming a cross-correlation, to detect a long preamble. The preamblesmay be part of a predetermined frame structure for Wi-Fi communication.

Referring back to FIG. 7, in some embodiments, the antennas 701 (FIG. 7)may each comprise one or more directional or omnidirectional antennas,including, for example, dipole antennas, monopole antennas, patchantennas, loop antennas, microstrip antennas or other types of antennassuitable for transmission of RF signals. In some multiple-inputmultiple-output (MIMO) embodiments, the antennas may be effectivelyseparated to take advantage of spatial diversity and the differentchannel characteristics that may result. Antennas 701 may each include aset of phased-array antennas, although embodiments are not so limited.

Although the radio architecture 105A, 105B is illustrated as havingseveral separate functional elements, one or more of the functionalelements may be combined and may be implemented by combinations ofsoftware-configured elements, such as processing elements includingdigital signal processors (DSPs), and/or other hardware elements. Forexample, some elements may comprise one or more microprocessors, DSPs,field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), application specific integratedcircuits (ASICs), radio-frequency integrated circuits (RFICs) andcombinations of various hardware and logic circuitry for performing atleast the functions described herein. In some embodiments, thefunctional elements may refer to one or more processes operating on oneor more processing elements.

The word “exemplary” is used herein to mean “serving as an example,instance, or illustration.” Any embodiment described herein as“exemplary” is not necessarily to be construed as preferred oradvantageous over other embodiments. The terms “computing device,” “userdevice,” “communication station,” “station,” “handheld device,” “mobiledevice,” “wireless device” and “user equipment” (UE) as used hereinrefers to a wireless communication device such as a cellular telephone,a smartphone, a tablet, a netbook, a wireless terminal, a laptopcomputer, a femtocell, a high data rate (HDR) subscriber station, anaccess point, a printer, a point of sale device, an access terminal, orother personal communication system (PCS) device. The device may beeither mobile or stationary.

As used within this document, the term “communicate” is intended toinclude transmitting, or receiving, or both transmitting and receiving.This may be particularly useful in claims when describing theorganization of data that is being transmitted by one device andreceived by another, but only the functionality of one of those devicesis required to infringe the claim. Similarly, the bidirectional exchangeof data between two devices (both devices transmit and receive duringthe exchange) may be described as “communicating,” when only thefunctionality of one of those devices is being claimed. The term“communicating” as used herein with respect to a wireless communicationsignal includes transmitting the wireless communication signal and/orreceiving the wireless communication signal. For example, a wirelesscommunication unit, which is capable of communicating a wirelesscommunication signal, may include a wireless transmitter to transmit thewireless communication signal to at least one other wirelesscommunication unit, and/or a wireless communication receiver to receivethe wireless communication signal from at least one other wirelesscommunication unit.

As used herein, unless otherwise specified, the use of the ordinaladjectives “first,” “second,” “third,” etc., to describe a commonobject, merely indicates that different instances of like objects arebeing referred to and are not intended to imply that the objects sodescribed must be in a given sequence, either temporally, spatially, inranking, or in any other manner.

The term “access point” (AP) as used herein may be a fixed station. Anaccess point may also be referred to as an access node, a base station,an evolved node B (eNodeB), or some other similar terminology known inthe art. An access terminal may also be called a mobile station, userequipment (UE), a wireless communication device, or some other similarterminology known in the art. Embodiments disclosed herein generallypertain to wireless networks. Some embodiments may relate to wirelessnetworks that operate in accordance with one of the IEEE 802.11standards.

Some embodiments may be used in conjunction with various devices andsystems, for example, a personal computer (PC), a desktop computer, amobile computer, a laptop computer, a notebook computer, a tabletcomputer, a server computer, a handheld computer, a handheld device, apersonal digital assistant (PDA) device, a handheld PDA device, anon-board device, an off-board device, a hybrid device, a vehiculardevice, a non-vehicular device, a mobile or portable device, a consumerdevice, a non-mobile or non-portable device, a wireless communicationstation, a wireless communication device, a wireless access point (AP),a wired or wireless router, a wired or wireless modem, a video device,an audio device, an audio-video (A/V) device, a wired or wirelessnetwork, a wireless area network, a wireless video area network (WVAN),a local area network (LAN), a wireless LAN (WLAN), a personal areanetwork (PAN), a wireless PAN (WPAN), and the like.

Some embodiments may be used in conjunction with one way and/or two-wayradio communication systems, cellular radio-telephone communicationsystems, a mobile phone, a cellular telephone, a wireless telephone, apersonal communication system (PCS) device, a PDA device whichincorporates a wireless communication device, a mobile or portableglobal positioning system (GPS) device, a device which incorporates aGPS receiver or transceiver or chip, a device which incorporates an RFIDelement or chip, a multiple input multiple output (MIMO) transceiver ordevice, a single input multiple output (SIMO) transceiver or device, amultiple input single output (MIS 0) transceiver or device, a devicehaving one or more internal antennas and/or external antennas, digitalvideo broadcast (DVB) devices or systems, multi-standard radio devicesor systems, a wired or wireless handheld device, e.g., a smartphone, awireless application protocol (WAP) device, or the like.

Some embodiments may be used in conjunction with one or more types ofwireless communication signals and/or systems following one or morewireless communication protocols, for example, radio frequency (RF),infrared (IR), frequency-division multiplexing (FDM), orthogonal FDM(OFDM), time-division multiplexing (TDM), time-division multiple access(TDMA), extended TDMA (E-TDMA), general packet radio service (GPRS),extended GPRS, code-division multiple access (CDMA), wideband CDMA(WCDMA), CDMA 2000, single-carrier CDMA, multi-carrier CDMA,multi-carrier modulation (MDM), discrete multi-tone (DMT), Bluetooth®,global positioning system (GPS), Wi-Fi, Wi-Max, ZigBee, ultra-wideband(UWB), global system for mobile communications (GSM), 2G, 2.5G, 3G,3.5G, 4G, fifth generation (5G) mobile networks, 3GPP, long termevolution (LTE), LTE advanced, enhanced data rates for GSM Evolution(EDGE), or the like. Other embodiments may be used in various otherdevices, systems, and/or networks.

The following examples pertain to further embodiments.

Example 1 may include a device comprising processing circuitry coupledto storage, the processing circuitry configured to: determine one ormore co-located frequency bands with a 6 GHz access point (AP); generatea reduced neighbor report (RNR), wherein the RNR comprises informationassociated with the 6 GHz AP; determine a minimum bandwidth to transmita beacon frame using a communication mode; and cause to send the beaconframe to a first station device.

Example 2 may include the device of example 1 and/or some other exampleherein, wherein the communication mode may be a non-high throughput (HT)duplicate mode.

Example 3 may include the device of example 1 and/or some other exampleherein, wherein the communication mode may be associated with 6 GHzoperation.

Example 4 may include the device of example 1 and/or some other exampleherein, wherein the information associated with the 6 GHz AP comprises abasic service set identification (BSSID), a short service set identifier(SSID), an operating class or channel.

Example 5 may include the device of example 1 and/or some other exampleherein, wherein the processing circuitry may be further configured todetermine a plurality of APs operating in an ESS under a bandwidth (BW)mode.

Example 6 may include the device of example 5 and/or some other exampleherein, wherein the BW mode comprises a minimum BW with which beaconsand probe response frames are transmitted using non-HT duplicate mode.

Example 7 may include the device of example 6 and/or some other exampleherein, wherein the minimum BW may be higher or equal to a bandwidthvalue in the minimum bandwidth field in an operation element or anextended service set (ESS) report element that the AP transmits.

Example 8 may include the device of example 1 and/or some other exampleherein, further comprising a transceiver configured to transmit andreceive wireless signals.

Example 9 may include the device of example 4 and/or some other exampleherein, further comprising an antenna coupled to the transceiver tocause to send the beacon frame.

Example 10 may include a non-transitory computer-readable medium storingcomputer-executable instructions which when executed by one or moreprocessors result in performing operations comprising: determining oneor more co-located frequency bands with a 6 GHz access point (AP);generating a reduced neighbor report (RNR), wherein the RNR comprisesinformation associated with the 6 GHz AP; determining a minimumbandwidth to transmit a beacon frame using a communication mode; andcausing to send the beacon frame to a first station device.

Example 11 may include the non-transitory computer-readable medium ofexample 10 and/or some other example herein, wherein the communicationmode may be a non-high throughput (HT) duplicate mode.

Example 12 may include the non-transitory computer-readable medium ofexample 10 and/or some other example herein, wherein the communicationmode may be associated with 6 GHz operation.

Example 13 may include the non-transitory computer-readable medium ofexample 10 and/or some other example herein, wherein the informationassociated with the 6 GHz AP comprises a basic service setidentification (BSSID), a short service set identifier (SSID), anoperating class or channel.

Example 14 may include the non-transitory computer-readable medium ofexample 10 and/or some other example herein, wherein the operationsfurther comprise determining a plurality of APs operating in an ESSunder a bandwidth (BW) mode.

Example 15 may include the non-transitory computer-readable medium ofexample 14 and/or some other example herein, wherein the BW modecomprises a minimum BW with which beacons and probe response frames aretransmitted using non-HT duplicate mode.

Example 16 may include the non-transitory computer-readable medium ofexample 15 and/or some other example herein, wherein the minimum BW maybe higher or equal to a bandwidth value in the minimum bandwidth fieldin an operation element or an extended service set (ESS) report elementthat the AP transmits.

Example 17 may include a method comprising: determining, by one or moreprocessors, by one or more processors, one or more co-located frequencybands with a 6 GHz access point (AP); generating a reduced neighborreport (RNR), wherein the RNR comprises information associated with the6 GHz AP; determining a minimum bandwidth to transmit a beacon frameusing a communication mode; and causing to send the beacon frame to afirst station device.

Example 18 may include the method of example 17 and/or some otherexample herein, wherein the communication mode may be a non-highthroughput (HT) duplicate mode.

Example 19 may include the method of example 17 and/or some otherexample herein, wherein the communication mode may be associated with 6GHz operation.

Example 20 may include the method of example 17 and/or some otherexample herein, wherein the information associated with the 6 GHz APcomprises a basic service set identification (BSSID), a short serviceset identifier (SSID), an operating class or channel.

Example 21 may include the method of example 17 and/or some otherexample herein, further comprising determining a plurality of APsoperating in an ESS under a bandwidth (BW) mode.

Example 22 may include the method of example 21 and/or some otherexample herein, wherein the BW mode comprises a minimum BW with whichbeacons and probe response frames are transmitted using non-HT duplicatemode.

Example 23 may include the method of example 22 and/or some otherexample herein, wherein the minimum BW may be higher or equal to abandwidth value in the minimum bandwidth field in an operation elementor an extended service set (ESS) report element that the AP transmits.

Example 24 may include an apparatus comprising means for: determiningone or more co-located frequency bands with a 6 GHz access point (AP);generating a reduced neighbor report (RNR), wherein the RNR comprisesinformation associated with the 6 GHz AP; determining a minimumbandwidth to transmit a beacon frame using a communication mode; causingto send the beacon frame to a first station device.

Example 25 may include the apparatus of example 24 and/or some otherexample herein, wherein the communication mode may be a non-highthroughput (HT) duplicate mode.

Example 26 may include the apparatus of example 24 and/or some otherexample herein, wherein the communication mode may be associated with 6GHz operation.

Example 27 may include the apparatus of example 24 and/or some otherexample herein, wherein the information associated with the 6 GHz APcomprises a basic service set identification (BSSID), a short serviceset identifier (SSID), an operating class or channel.

Example 28 may include the apparatus of example 24 and/or some otherexample herein, further comprising determining a plurality of APsoperating in an ESS under a bandwidth (BW) mode.

Example 29 may include the apparatus of example 28 and/or some otherexample herein, wherein the BW mode comprises a minimum BW with whichbeacons and probe response frames are transmitted using non-HT duplicatemode.

Example 30 may include the apparatus of example 29 and/or some otherexample herein, wherein the minimum BW may be higher or equal to abandwidth value in the minimum bandwidth field in an operation elementor an extended service set (ESS) report element that the AP transmits.

Example 31 may include one or more non-transitory computer-readablemedia comprising instructions to cause an electronic device, uponexecution of the instructions by one or more processors of theelectronic device, to perform one or more elements of a method describedin or related to any of examples 1-14, or any other method or processdescribed herein.

Example 32 may include an apparatus comprising logic, modules, and/orcircuitry to perform one or more elements of a method described in orrelated to any of examples 1-14, or any other method or processdescribed herein.

Example 33 may include a method, technique, or process as described inor related to any of examples 1-14, or portions or parts thereof.

Example 18 may include an apparatus comprising: one or more processorsand one or more computer readable media comprising instructions that,when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or moreprocessors to perform the method, techniques, or process as described inor related to any of examples 1-14, or portions thereof.

Example 19 may include a method of communicating in a wireless networkas shown and described herein.

Example 20 may include a system for providing wireless communication asshown and described herein.

Example 21 may include a device for providing wireless communication asshown and described herein.

Embodiments according to the disclosure are in particular disclosed inthe attached claims directed to a method, a storage medium, a device anda computer program product, wherein any feature mentioned in one claimcategory, e.g., method, can be claimed in another claim category, e.g.,system, as well. The dependencies or references back in the attachedclaims are chosen for formal reasons only. However, any subject matterresulting from a deliberate reference back to any previous claims (inparticular multiple dependencies) can be claimed as well, so that anycombination of claims and the features thereof are disclosed and can beclaimed regardless of the dependencies chosen in the attached claims.The subject-matter which can be claimed comprises not only thecombinations of features as set out in the attached claims but also anyother combination of features in the claims, wherein each featurementioned in the claims can be combined with any other feature orcombination of other features in the claims. Furthermore, any of theembodiments and features described or depicted herein can be claimed ina separate claim and/or in any combination with any embodiment orfeature described or depicted herein or with any of the features of theattached claims.

The foregoing description of one or more implementations providesillustration and description, but is not intended to be exhaustive or tolimit the scope of embodiments to the precise form disclosed.Modifications and variations are possible in light of the aboveteachings or may be acquired from practice of various embodiments.

Certain aspects of the disclosure are described above with reference toblock and flow diagrams of systems, methods, apparatuses, and/orcomputer program products according to various implementations. It willbe understood that one or more blocks of the block diagrams and flowdiagrams, and combinations of blocks in the block diagrams and the flowdiagrams, respectively, may be implemented by computer-executableprogram instructions. Likewise, some blocks of the block diagrams andflow diagrams may not necessarily need to be performed in the orderpresented, or may not necessarily need to be performed at all, accordingto some implementations.

These computer-executable program instructions may be loaded onto aspecial-purpose computer or other particular machine, a processor, orother programmable data processing apparatus to produce a particularmachine, such that the instructions that execute on the computer,processor, or other programmable data processing apparatus create meansfor implementing one or more functions specified in the flow diagramblock or blocks. These computer program instructions may also be storedin a computer-readable storage media or memory that may direct acomputer or other programmable data processing apparatus to function ina particular manner, such that the instructions stored in thecomputer-readable storage media produce an article of manufactureincluding instruction means that implement one or more functionsspecified in the flow diagram block or blocks. As an example, certainimplementations may provide for a computer program product, comprising acomputer-readable storage medium having a computer-readable program codeor program instructions implemented therein, said computer-readableprogram code adapted to be executed to implement one or more functionsspecified in the flow diagram block or blocks. The computer programinstructions may also be loaded onto a computer or other programmabledata processing apparatus to cause a series of operational elements orsteps to be performed on the computer or other programmable apparatus toproduce a computer-implemented process such that the instructions thatexecute on the computer or other programmable apparatus provide elementsor steps for implementing the functions specified in the flow diagramblock or blocks.

Accordingly, blocks of the block diagrams and flow diagrams supportcombinations of means for performing the specified functions,combinations of elements or steps for performing the specified functionsand program instruction means for performing the specified functions. Itwill also be understood that each block of the block diagrams and flowdiagrams, and combinations of blocks in the block diagrams and flowdiagrams, may be implemented by special-purpose, hardware-based computersystems that perform the specified functions, elements or steps, orcombinations of special-purpose hardware and computer instructions.

Conditional language, such as, among others, “can,” “could,” “might,” or“may,” unless specifically stated otherwise, or otherwise understoodwithin the context as used, is generally intended to convey that certainimplementations could include, while other implementations do notinclude, certain features, elements, and/or operations. Thus, suchconditional language is not generally intended to imply that features,elements, and/or operations are in any way required for one or moreimplementations or that one or more implementations necessarily includelogic for deciding, with or without user input or prompting, whetherthese features, elements, and/or operations are included or are to beperformed in any particular implementation.

Many modifications and other implementations of the disclosure set forthherein will be apparent having the benefit of the teachings presented inthe foregoing descriptions and the associated drawings. Therefore, it isto be understood that the disclosure is not to be limited to thespecific implementations disclosed and that modifications and otherimplementations are intended to be included within the scope of theappended claims. Although specific terms are employed herein, they areused in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes oflimitation.

What is claimed is:
 1. A device, the device comprising processingcircuitry coupled to storage, the processing circuitry configured to:determine one or more co-located frequency bands with a 6 GHz accesspoint (AP); generate a reduced neighbor report (RNR), wherein the RNRcomprises information associated with the 6 GHz AP; determine a minimumbandwidth to transmit a beacon frame using a communication mode; andcause to send the beacon frame to a first station device.
 2. The deviceof claim 1, wherein the communication mode is a non-high throughput (HT)duplicate mode.
 3. The device of claim 1, wherein the communication modeis associated with 6 GHz operation.
 4. The device of claim 1, whereinthe information associated with the 6 GHz AP comprises a basic serviceset identification (BSSID), a short service set identifier (SSID), anoperating class or channel.
 5. The device of claim 1, wherein theprocessing circuitry is further configured to determine a plurality ofAPs operating in an ESS under a bandwidth (BW) mode.
 6. The device ofclaim 5, wherein the BW mode comprises a minimum BW with which beaconsand probe response frames are transmitted using non-HT duplicate mode.7. The device of claim 6, wherein the minimum BW is higher or equal to abandwidth value in the minimum bandwidth field in an operation elementor an extended service set (ESS) report element that the AP transmits.8. The device of claim 1, further comprising a transceiver configured totransmit and receive wireless signals.
 9. The device of claim 4, furthercomprising an antenna coupled to the transceiver to cause to send thebeacon frame.
 10. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storingcomputer-executable instructions which when executed by one or moreprocessors result in performing operations comprising: determining oneor more co-located frequency bands with a 6 GHz access point (AP);generating a reduced neighbor report (RNR), wherein the RNR comprisesinformation associated with the 6 GHz AP; determining a minimumbandwidth to transmit a beacon frame using a communication mode; andcausing to send the beacon frame to a first station device.
 11. Thenon-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 10, wherein thecommunication mode is a non-high throughput (HT) duplicate mode.
 12. Thenon-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 10, wherein thecommunication mode is associated with 6 GHz operation.
 13. Thenon-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 10, wherein theinformation associated with the 6 GHz AP comprises a basic service setidentification (BSSID), a short service set identifier (SSID), anoperating class or channel.
 14. The non-transitory computer-readablemedium of claim 10, wherein the operations further comprise determininga plurality of APs operating in an ESS under a bandwidth (BW) mode. 15.The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 14, wherein the BWmode comprises a minimum BW with which beacons and probe response framesare transmitted using non-HT duplicate mode.
 16. The non-transitorycomputer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the minimum BW is higheror equal to a bandwidth value in the minimum bandwidth field in anoperation element or an extended service set (ESS) report element thatthe AP transmits.
 17. A method comprising: determining, by one or moreprocessors, one or more co-located frequency bands with a 6 GHz accesspoint (AP); generating a reduced neighbor report (RNR), wherein the RNRcomprises information associated with the 6 GHz AP; determining aminimum bandwidth to transmit a beacon frame using a communication mode;and causing to send the beacon frame to a first station device.
 18. Themethod of claim 17, wherein the communication mode is a non-highthroughput (HT) duplicate mode.
 19. The method of claim 17, wherein thecommunication mode is associated with 6 GHz operation.
 20. The method ofclaim 17, wherein the information associated with the 6 GHz AP comprisesa basic service set identification (BSSID), a short service setidentifier (SSID), an operating class or channel.